mother_of_learningfandomcom-20200213-history
Zorian Kazinski
Zorian Kazinski, the time looping mage protagonist. A bookish scholar with a tiny mana reserve who is thrown into a time loop filled with strange magics, manipulation by angels, and has to use his innate mind magic and skill at learning to survive. Personality Zorian is studious, moral (though not rule-bound) and a hard worker at his school. He is also an introvert, but sometimes he enjoys the company of other people who he likes and respects. He reads fiction in his spare time for entertainment. He used to get angry fairly easily (especially when people mentioned his brother), but his time in the loop has worked to increase his control over his emotions. The cessation of the negative impacts of his innate empathy has also contributed to his improving social awareness. Personal History In his younger years, Zorian had run-ins with law local enforcement. It's also been mentioned that nosy neighbors have gotten him in trouble during past escapades. He sometimes dreams of “talking birds, floating pyramids, three-eyed wolves”. He's mentioned that he's had bad experiences with alcohol which is why he doesn't drink. He has also had extremely bad experiences with priests which, combined with his study of historical treatises on the gods, is why he isn't religious (that and he thinks poorly of the gods). His initial (pre-loop) choice of electives was engineering, mineral alchemy, and advanced mathematics. In chapter 86 it was mentioned that he has been trapped in the time loop for more than 8 years now. Family History Zorian's family is engaged in some type of trade that appears to have made the family reasonably affluent in their local area. It's been mentioned that they have had contractual disputes with farmers so it is presumed that they are involved in either agriculture, horticulture or goods that are dependant on these industries. They live in what Zorian calls a "glorified village". With the exception of his sister Zorian doesn't get along with any of his family. He describes himself as the black sheep of the family, but lately, his parents have been paying more attention to him because his brother Fortov is incompetent and they need a spare heir in case something happens to his other brother Daimen. It's been implied that his older brothers treated him poorly. Especially Daimen who practiced restricted magic on him. He resents Daimen a lot and gets upset when people talk about him (although less so as time goes on). His parents lecture him a lot about various subjects. Zorian doesn't feel his dad cares about him or his sister, and nothing in the story indicates that he's wrong as Andir's contempt for his son is seen in their one interaction in Chapter 72. Known Family List Mrs Cikan Kazinski (Zorian's Mother) Mr Andir Kazinski (Zorian's Father) Kirielle Kazinski (Zorian's Younger Sister) Fortov Kazinski (Zorian's Older Brother) Daimen Kazinski (Zorian's Eldest Brother) Witch Grandma (Zorian's Maternal Grandmother) Magical Abilities Zorian started out being competent for his age, most notably reasonably skilled for his age at shaping and the scholarly side of magic. As time has progressed his skills have increased almost exponentially. Zorian does not believe this is due to inherent skill on his part but rather due to the effects of living in the time loop as the confluence of resources and opportunity offered by the loop work to increase his abilities far beyond what he would normally learn within 8 years outside the time loop and are bringing out his maximum level of potential. Listed below are some of his abilities both of the magical and non-magical nature. Natural Magical Abilities Zorian is "open" as the aranea call it. This gives him empathy (which lets him have some sense of others people's emotions) and makes it difficult for him to be in crowded places (although this is no longer a problem for him). While this is not an issue for all empaths it has particularly impacted Zorian's development as the negative effects of his ability were quite severe compared to what is likely the norm for 'Open' individuals. Because he is open it's possible for him to learn mind magic from the aranea which he has done in a number of restarts. Below is a list of his mental powers. Empathy The ability to sense the emotions of a non-shielded mind. He had this ability from the start, but aranea training has allowed him to refine the ability, focus it and turn it off when needed. Danger Sense Several times when someone has attempted to murder him he's gotten a sudden intuition to avoid such danger. It is unclear if this is due to open individual inherent affinity for precognition or divination or if its a result of his passive empathic ability. Telepathy The ability to communicate silently between minds. This ability in a responsive form was innate but initiating contact with other telepathic minds, and more recently a two-way telepathic bond between him and a non-'open' individual, were taught to him by the Cyorian aranean web and the Luminous Advocates aranean web respectively. Intrusion Detection As an 'open' Zorian is capable of detecting foreign minds should they invade his own. While other mages are also capable of this Zorian's sensitivity and resistance is far stronger than that of an ordinary 'closed' mage. Mental Defense Initially, to protect his mind Zorian relied on the 'Mind Shield' spell but more recently, thanks to Mind Like Fire, he has developed a very formidable non-structured psychic mental shell that even his aranea teachers find hard to get past. It is vulnerable to dispels. Mind Sense Zorian is able to sense minds around him. He can get some basic information about each mind – how complex their thoughts are, their species, their gender, and other rudimentary information. This was initially taught to him by the Cyorian aranea. Mind Reading He is able to read the thoughts of sentient beings, on a surface level. He has reached proficiency in such arts and can now casually scroll through a human's surface thoughts as displayed in his interactions with Rea. However, this has only come about recently as his past attempts to do so were less successful, succeeding only in spooking away pigeons. Suggestion The ability to subtly encourage a being to behave in a certain manner, not strictly against their will but not with it. This may be displayed by making them trust someone they otherwise wouldn't, making them look away from the user if the user is in a compromising position, or perhaps feel fear towards the user they would not normally be inclined to feel. The ability has sub-properties of emotional amplification and emotional dampening. This ability was first demonstrated by him coercing pigeons to eat from his hands while waiting for Kael at the train station. In one restart he used this ability to coerce a pair of a lightning lizard's to attack each other instead of helping the invaders. Domination The ability to usurp users will. Other than as pigeon practice and compelling members of the Cult of the Dragon Below to fall asleep when captured this powerful but morally ambiguous mind art is not used as frequently by Zorian. However, as time has progressed, he has become far more willing to use it in combat or if there is no viable alternative. Puppeteering The ability to usurp a body from its owner for the user's purposes. This ability was first displayed by Zorian when he was caught by Red Robe, causing Red Robe to drop his spell rod. The difference between puppeteering and domination is that while they are both overt puppeteering involves direct manipulation and control of a puppets individual actions, that is the mind mage consciously directs each action, whereas domination forces an individual to act to their master's commands. Illusion The ability to manipulate what an opponent is sensing. This has not been much displayed by Zorian but it is assumed he is somewhat proficient in it as he has used it on occasion to walk past sentries and guard posts. It has been displayed by the aranea of Cyoria to real-time edit themselves out of the senses of the guards to the dungeon when conversing with Zorian and Kael. He also used it on an invader when trying to access the portal to Sudomir's mansion allowing him to slip past the guard. Memory Mind Arts The ability to read a target's long-term memories, edit them, fabricate them, or delete them. As of Chapter 86 Zorian is probably considered a competent practitioner of this ability by aranean standards but is likely considered highly skilled by human standards. The development of this skill was vital for both reading the memory packet the Cyorian Matriarch gave him and for ensuring the perfect recall of every memory Zorian's needed to record in regards to his now broad experience and magical abilities. While it would also work to restore Zach's missing memories Zach has been outright resistant to allowing Zorian to check and confirm the extent of the damage to Zach's memories. Mental Combat Zorian is highly proficient at mental combat. Zach suggests and is later proven correct that Zorian might be able to beat Quatach-Ichl Ichl in mental combat. Zorian is also already able to invade the minds of the high ranking Dragon Below cultists who have had the most powerful mental defences of any human and can rival many aranea in mental combat. Mental Modification and Enhancement Zorian has now begun to experiment, translate and evolve the so-called high level aranean mind arts of mental Mental Modification and Enhancement. These involve a mind mage purposely modifying their own mind to increase both their mental prowess and the functions of their mind. Basic uses of this ability can help to filter out distractions or automatically highlight things that are perceived by the senses. High levels can build complex mental calculators or create multi-threaded awarenesses allowing a user to literally think about more than one thing at a time sequentially. Hypothetically this might allow a mage to cast multiple spells simultaneously or allow a user to speak to one person while using other mental senses at the same time to full efficiency while also holding a second telepathic conversation all at the same time. Zorian has now used these principles to build an interface that allows him to share constant awareness with his simulacrums at the same time and to synchronise their actions and memories, but it only works over short distances. It is unclear if these abilities could be imposed on a subject other than the mind magic user. Alchemy and Potion Making Zorian already started with some experience in potion making from his witch grandmother. He is also interested in and knowledgeable about alchemy. When without magical abilities he was quickly able to make a huge amount of money by making potions, selling them, and buying more expensive ingredients, and was able to make a rare soul restoration potion. While Zorian is not a master alchemist he would certainly be considered a proficient journeyman at the least and would be considered a master at the refinement of building materials for golem construction. He has some proficiency in creating salves and ointments and at least basic proficiency in creating transformation and enhancement potions. Spell Formulas Zorian has always been interested in spell formula and originally wished to someday make a living of it. Over time he has become highly skilled in this field which allows him to take commissions and make various items for himself. He has demonstrated the ability to make spell formulas that make casting spells he knows faster and more efficient. He can also create a variety of golems and war golems and create mobile warding devices. Divination Zorian is very good at divination and as a natural mind mage has a natural affinity for many aspects of this magical discipline as he can often directly interpret the results of divination in his mind without using any external interface - whether through devices or spellwork. Zorian first began with library divination (from his time working at the library) and other basic skills that are useful for police work (thanks to having a detective as a teacher). However, his time in the loop has now given Zorian a wealth of divination ability especially in regards to scouting, information gathering and circumvention of magical countermeasures. Zorian can now unravel the specifics of complex spells and defences and deconstruct the mechanics of how devices such as ward scanners work. He also has an arsenal of Soul Analysis Divination Spells. Warding Zorian has shown significant skill at warding and sought out a number of warding experts during various restarts. He can ward against teleportation, magic, scrying, fire, and sound. He can create of a mobile warding stone for combat, ward his dwelling well enough to attract attention from the Mage Guild and is skilled enough at bypassing wards to break into high security vaults. Golem Making In recent chapters, Zorian has engaged in golem making. His first golems were crude wooden affairs (chapter 32), and slightly less crude dolls for Kirelle. In later chapters (chapter 37) Zorian has demonstrated that he could make more combat capable steel golems which were far vulnerable to being torn apart. After that (chapter 46) he worked with Edwin to design better quality steel golems which were less jury-rigged and were immensely resistant to damage but vulnerable to being buried. Since then he has refined the designs and hired many experts to improve them and his Golems are now high level. Quatach-Ichl has noted his golems are good enough he wants to buy some. Zorian has also created a custom golem housing for his simulacrums which allows him to maintain many simulacrums at a fraction of the magical cost. Shaping Skills At the beginning of the loops, Zorian exhibited above-average shaping skills in all the basic disciplines. As the loops have gone on his shaping skills have reached levels that are considered extremely advanced and archmage level in some cases across a variety of magical disciplines. Spellwork Zorian has a vast knowledge of spells and has accrued a considerable level experience with combat spells e.g. magic missile, shield, flamethrower. Bellow is a list of his most common spell types. Magic Missile: Shoots bolts of kinetic force at enemies. It's possible to shoot more than one at a time or even swarms of missiles, make a missile do piercing or bludgeoning damage and/or made them home in on the target. A perfectly cast Magic Missile is invisible. People's magical capacity is often measured by how many magic missiles they can cast at one time. Zorian can cast spell reflexively and is one of his preferred spells due to its low mana cost and versatility. In the beginning, he could only cast 8 missiles before running out but recently it has risen to 20. By later stages (chapter 46) he can cast 35 in a row due to improvements in efficiency. The implication as of chapter 86 is that he can likely cast somewhere between 40-80. His skill with this spell is now so profound that he is capable of perfectly casting his magic missiles, thus rendering them invisible. He learned this spell originally from Zach but has since far surpassed him in his skill with this particular spell. Shield: Zorian can create a shield of force around him to protect himself from damage. Later on, he acquires a number of variants such as a version designed to stop fire spells and an aegis to provide him with comprehensive full body protection. His shields are still vulnerable to shield piercing attacks like force lances. He later hires experts to design improved versions that offered far more sophisticated shielding. His current combat shield is a far more advanced design incorporating the basic concepts of diffusing force over a wide area and more advanced features such as ensuring that even if the shield is penetrated only a small hexagon shaped area collapses which allow Zorian to rotate vulnerable areas away from an attacker. Invisibility: Learned from Tinami, this spell creates an optical cloak that prevents others from seeing him. It can be broken by casting a spell, fighting, or running. It is implied that Zorian has learned more sophisticated versions of this ability but he rarely uses it after the first arc. Teleportation Initially taught by Ilsa, this allows him to rapidly move from one area to another, with the limitation that wards could stop teleportation. He later designed and found a number of improvements, like a teleport beacon/recall spell from Gurey that could punch through interference that he improved later, a short distance teleport, and from the aranea treasure storage a version that could cut through weaker wards. He later learned the gate spell, and can now gate to any place where a simulacrum or another gate user he is allied with can open a corresponding portal. Xvim vastly improved his general dimensional magic skills and taught Zorian a number of variants that allow him to circumvent teleportation countermeasures. Fireball A highly destructive and dangerous spell which creates a wave of fire around it. Taiven teaches it to him, and Xvim and Alanic help him refine and improve it later on. He kills a frog monster with it later. Dispel magic A variety of spells that disrupt magic. Zorian later learns mass versions and a dispel wave versions of dispel magic which can dispel in an area or dispel everything in front of him. Combat spells Zorian has a variety of spells with some combat function that are not repeatedly used. Taiven's defensive and offensive spells using fire, force, electricity and coldness, pocket meteor and the force lance. As the story progresses Zorian amasses has a wealth of combat experience plundered from many experts (Xvim, Alanic, Zach, people he fought or paid off) and is an extremely competent combat mage. However his magical endurance is still a weakness that he cannot truly overcome. Utility spells A variety of spells Zorian has learnt that serve a utility function. Rain shield, dust shield, alteration of matter spells, illusion spells, divination spells, scrying spells, animation spells, obfuscation spells and library magic. Soul magic Zorian gained a basic soul shield from his morlock friend Kael, and later Alanic helped Zorian develop a soul sense and the ability to cast soul ritual magic, like tracking spells for the marker. Raynie taught him to analyze his own soul, Silverlake helped him make a soul perception potion to let him see other's souls so he could cast soul magic on them and the plundered lore of Sudomir, Dragon Cultists and others allowed Zorian to become reasonably competent in the use of soul magic. Zorian can now heal his own soul faster than normal and resist soul magic attacks much more competently. He knows more of his soul than many necromancers, since the recent damage. His knowledge of soul magic has allowed him to develop a telepathic ability to talk to his simulacrums across continents. Other Skills and Abilities Zorian has demonstrated a variety of other useful skills and abilities some of which are listed below. Good memory - '''Zorian posses a good memory which has been very useful to him throughout the time loops. He has now magically augmented his memory to ensure that critical knowledge will never be forgotten and to store large journals and magical tomes. '''Understanding of Locks - '''Zorian has a solid working knowledge of how locks operate and can be circumvented. This means he can unlock locks magically with his shaping skills or mechanically with lockpicks. '''Scholarly - '''He is knowledgeable about a number of subjects both magical and mundane including astronomy, history and geography. '''Combat prowess - '''When magicless, using sleep potions Zorian was able to defeat a number of trained guards and has fought and won numerous battles with powerful magical opponents. '''Polyglot - '''Zorian started the time loop speaking three languages - Common Ikosian, High Ikosian and the khusky tongue local to his village. He has now gained some proficiency with Koth dialects, Aranean thought language, Xlotic, Aranhal Ikosian and other Ikosian variants. '''Spell Formulas and Other Items At the current point in the story, Zorian has become proficient at the manufacture of suicide items (currently steel rings), combat and specialised golems for his personal use and a number of highly destructive and useful alchemical bombs and grenades. He is an expert at spell item creation. Teachers of Note Zorian has had a variety of important teachers who have helped him reach his current level. The most significant have been: Ilsa - Taught Zorian Alteration and Dimensionalism Xvim - Taught Zorian Basic through to Advanced Shaping skills, Dimensionalism, advanced teleportation and teleportation countermeasures. Recently taught Zorian the advanced skill of mana sensing. Spear of Resolve - Teaches Zorian the basic skills needed to learn natural mind magic Enthusiastic Seeker of Novelty - Teaches Zorian the fundamentals of basic mind magic and telepathy. Mind Like Fire - Teaches Zorian Telepathic Combat, both defence and offence. Noora Boole - Taught Zorian fundamental through to advanced spell formula. Alanic Zosk - Teaches Zorian personal soul sense, soul wards, basic soul magic rituals and combat magic - especially fire-related combat magic Silverlake - Taught Zorian the fundamentals of Pocket Dimensionalism and gave him a potion that gave him soul perception. Quatach-Ichl - Taught Zorian advanced pocket dimensionalism. It is implied that Zach and Zorian intend to seek out further instruction in other advanced magical fields from the ancient lich. Category:Characters